Christie on Hill seeking Sandy relief money

12/6/12 9:43 AM EST

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is hitting Capitol Hill Thursday to pressure lawmakers on the need for Sandy relief aid.

A congressional aide confirmed that Christie, a Republican, will meet with New Jersey Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez on Capitol Hill sometime Thursday.Christie is also expected to meet with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), and he will also sit down with House Speaker John BoehnerThursday afternoon, a spokesman for Boehner said.

He is the second governor from a Sandy-devastated state to lobby lawmakers this week on the need for storm aid. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo came to Washington on Monday for sit-downs with several key lawmakers, including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

The New York Times reported Wednesday that the Obama administration was preparing to ask for about $45 to $55 billion in additional aid for Sandy, but White House press secretary Jay Carney called that report “premature.”

Still, lawmakers from the damaged and recovering region said Wednesday that amount was not enough.

“While $50 billion is a significant amount of money, it unfortunately does not meet all of New York and New Jersey’s substantial needs,” said Lautenberg, Menendez, and New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. “While we know there will be additional supplementals, the Administration needs to come as close as possible to meeting our states’ needs in the first request.”

New York has requested about $42 billion in aid, while New Jersey is seeking $37 billion and Connecticut is asking for about $3 billion.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that oversees disaster funding, said late Wednesday that she hadn’t seen an aid request for Sandy from the White House but that she expected one on Thursday.